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Exact match domain marketing?

I've managed to secure a couple of exact match domains that are closely related to my main site but I'm a bit unsure of how to make best use of them.

My plan is to generate revenue by ranking high for the exact match terms, moving the visitor onto the main site to take their details and payment.

Naturally I want this satelite site to be very similar so that I can keep the brand continuety going and maintain a smooth transition to the main site. My main concerns however are:

1) Will I get punished for using the same Navigation menu, logo and code as my main site? The navigation menu will link to pages on the main site, and this satelite site will most likely only consist of an index page and about 5 - 10 individual content pages.

2)I want the branding on this satelite site to be the same as my main site. Will I be punished for the difference in branding vs domain name? I know the SE's are unlikely to pick it up because the logo is an image but is there a risk of human editing?

3) I want to link from the main site to the satelite site to give it a bit of a boost and to get through a possible sandbox. If the satelite has numerous links to the main site and the main site is linking to the satelite site will there be any benefit?

Never tried to create a site like this so a bit nervous about impacting the main site.

9 Responses

Regarding the questions, the answers bellow suffice. However, I would seriously reconsider the tactic you are wanting to employ. You will not rank that easily just because of an exact match domain (Google has recently devalued this ranking factor, and will probably continue doing so considering all the spam it creates on the web). If these keywords are so easy to achieve a number one ranking for, then rather use your existing domain and create some quality content that will attract links and rank (If your existing website cant achieve this, then it will be extremely challenging with new websites, and with the time you will invest ranking the new sites, you would have probably achieved the ranking easier on your original domain). Google will certainly pick up the links between your website and the new ones (http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-link-based-spam-analysis-techniques - is a good read regarding this), and the link juice flowing will be minimal, so you will need to design an entire link strategy for the new sites (which is not feasible....)). . Strengthening multiple domians to drive traffic to a single site is certainly not the most effective way of going about to earn higher rankings. Why do you belive you cannot achive these rankings with your exisitng domian, maybe you should rather start with seeking assitance in that regard?

I am just warning you as you might be investing time and money in a strategy that is not sustainable, always think long term when investing in SEO and make sure your work will bear the fruits of its labour for a long time, and not just achieve a short term solution.....

If I'm honest the strategy is short term and allows me to generate the income needed to get link building done for the main site. So although it may seem short term, there is a long term goal in all of this.

I'm already 3rd-4th for the keyword but the real conversions happen at the top because No1 is a very high DA site and if I'm completely honest with myself, despite all the best content in the world, it will take me months, if not years to get there. I'm banking on the 0.25 correlation between exact match and No1 rankings, combined with a quick link building push to get to the top.

Since employing link builders costs money this seems like the best way to get the dosh together.

Pitty link builders don't accept equity based on the traffic or market share they bring in. That would remove the need for doing this the long winded way. :)

Hi Mulith, can you not give us the website and keywords to have a closer look. If you say you have tried to achieve number one ranking and cannot with your website, because of the other sites high DA, I seriously dought yoru exact match domain will do it (remember there are hundres of rankign factors and there is a correlation, not causation between exact match domains...).....To be honest, although this community might hate me for it, I think you are better of buying links with exact match anchor text, that should get you number 1 quickly. Or do some link exchange...seems like what you are missing is exact match anchor text for your targeted keyword?

Hey Man, you telling me you have to be desperate for buying links, it's pretty desperate buying exact match domains and then doing a whole campaign for those (that's just as spammy in googles eyes), what kind of links do you want to build to the new domain anyway?, or do you expect to rank by having a few links from your mother site, cause that won't happen? Do some research on-line and you will see that 90% of competitive SEO campaigns buy links (like yours :)). I don't want to get into a debate here, but if I look at the current results, there is absoloutley no way you going to take number 1 ranking for that besides with your existing website.....Even if you do a new website and match your competitors profile, he will win due to domain age and your exact match domain wont be sufficient....Or am I missing something here, also by the time your domain ranks number 1, exact match domain might be valued even less...Recipricols depend on the pages they coming from and the balance of the link juice between the two sites, they can be extremely effective in your situation...

Ya, from a little town called Gansbaai, an hour outside of Cape Town. Yourself? It depends, dont approach a website that offers to sell links, rather find a good website and do some form of value exchange (I recommend targeted recipricol linking). Anyway, though this might interest you. Have a look at all of these sites. All have exactly same webiste structure/brand, just different domians, and all the domians are strengthened through exact match anchor text (bought!!) (This is similar to the scenario),

and there are many more of these. This is no good and by all means! (I was shocked when I stumbled upon this on the web the other day, the unfortunate thing is they rank for very competitive terms and all their links are bought, or strategically exchanged (although Google picks this up, the anchor text still helps significantly), pity Google cant pick this kind of link buying up yet. Cheers

1) if the rest of the content is different and there is enough unique content) then no i shouldn't be a problem.

2) If above is ok then 2 won't be a problem

3) Yes just like any other link building will help you.

That said I would advice on making a few landing pages on the site and use it as a portal for the main site. Just keep the content unique and relevant and you won't have any problems. Plus you should get a proff. designer to make a nice user friendly landing page design that works. :)

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